The Athlete Report

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Congratulations to Mike Vorkapich, Tommy Hoke and Tim Wakeham on being names Master Strength and Conditioning Coaches by the CSCCa in early May. There are only 92 in the world. Michigan State now has four.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

St. Xavier High School will host its 3rd Annual Football Strength and Conditioning Clinic on May 8th.

"This has become the premier High School Football Strength and Conditioning Clinic in the country. We have gathered what we believe are the top strength and conditioning professionals in the field and asked them to share their knowledge on coaching, program design, implementation, and motivation.

Our goal is to provide coaches and fitness professionals the opportunity to learn proper training principles for football from the most respected coaches in the football training and athlete development field."

The clinic is scheduled for Saturday, May 8, in the St. Xavier Performance Center and Strength and Conditioning Facility at St. X (600 W. North Bend Road).

Registration for the clinic begins at 7 a.m. with the clinic itself running from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

One of the questions I get asked the most from high school coaches and athletes leading up to the baseball season is, how do I keep our athletes strong and durable during the season? I always start by asking two questions. What did you do during the off-season and What are you doing in-season?

Your off-season training program is the foundation for all strength, conditioning, speed, agility, and flexibility gains during the year. You must develop a solid base that will allow your athletes to improve in all these components collectively as you progress through the off-season.

For the sake of time, let's focus on developing strength gains during this period. Start your off-season training from October to December by building a general fitness base, in which hypertrophy and strength are the main priorities. Divide this period into training cycles 0f 6-8 weeks with one (1) week rest periods during the end of each cycle. Focus on developing proper technique in each lift. Anatomical adaptation should be the focus during the first several weeks of the off-season phase. Let the tendons. ligaments and muscles adapt to the load before increasing weight in your routine. Follow the progressively overload principle to allow for continuous improvement of strength gains. Make sure you are consistent as you increase the load of the exercises and attack each workout with the greatest of intensity.

The Pre-season cycle should be from January through February, begin right after the holiday season and last till tryouts in March. This phase will allow the athlete to transfer off-season training to the playing field – developing functional speed, strength, and power. The objective of the pre-season is to acclimate the athlete to the rigors of a playing season through strength training, speed, agility, quickness, position-specific conditioning and concentrate on baseball-specific movements and drills.

The early season phase will get the athlete ready to proceed smoothly into the season. The priority of this phase is to make sure the athletes are recovering properly through adequate hydration and post –workout flexibility. The strength training aspect will take a back seat to fundamental skills and position-specific conditioning. But this does not mean that you should eliminate strength training from your routine. Just make sure that the volume and intensity of your workouts is reduced to allow for total recovery from practices or scrimmages.

The in-season phase from march to June, is designed to improve performance, reduce the risk of injury, and maintain sports-specific strength, speed, and power that has been developed throughout the off and pre-season. You must strength train 1-2 times a week to allow for off-season gains to be consistent throughout the season and playoffs. Make sure you keep an eye out for players that get banged up or are overused during the season. You will have to adjust programs for individual players that might need one on one attention. Pitchers will need specific programs for the shoulders, low back and lower body in between starts and games. Always remember that an injured body part does not mean an injured body. Adjustments can be made to the program to cover most, if not all injuries.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Tim Maxey was named Major League Baseball’s Joint Strength and Conditioning Coordinator, Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association announced on Thursday.

Maxey will focus on providing guidance to and identifying best practices for clubs and players on issues involving conditioning, fitness, nutrition and other related subjects in this newly created position.

Maxey has plenty of experience in the field as he just completed his seventh season as the strength and conditioning coach for the Indians in 2009, and prior to working with the Indians, he worked in the Royals organization from 1998 to 2002.

As part of his new position, Maxey visit with every team during Spring Training to discuss fitness practices and conditioning. He will also be available to all Major League clubs during the season for all areas relating to strength and conditioning, including the development of educational programs and assisting with the establishment of industry-wide initiatives.

He also has experience working on a larger scale with baseball, as he has served MLB and the MLBPA on its Strength and Conditioning Advisory Board and has been an advisor to the Taylor Hooton Foundation, which raises awareness about the dangers of steroid abuse.

Maxey is a National Strength and Conditioning Association-Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist and a Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach. The Ohio native is a graduate of Shawnee State University and holds a Master’s Degree in physical education from The Ohio State University.

Are you ready to attack the off-season and help yourself achieve the goals of improving and possibly playing at the next level? If so, then we’d like to invite you to register and attend one of our 17 FREENike Football Combines this spring.

ESPN RISE has introduced thousands of top prospects to the national recruiting scene over the past 20 years after top showings at the Nike Football Combines. These combines will give athletes an opportunity to showcase their athletic ability to the football recruiting world.

WHAT
The Nike Football Combines are exclusive events and are an opportunity for players to get an official SPARQ Rating in a professional setting. These combines are FREE of charge.

WHO CAN COME
Top rising seniors to be (Class of 2011) and all underclassmen (2012-13) looking to showcase their skills and play at the next level.

WHEN AND WHERE
There are 17 Nike Football Combines scheduled for the 2010 tour. Log onto www.espnrise.com now to see the schedule and register online!

WHAT TO BRING
Bring appropriate workout gear: Shorts, sweats, football cleats, and or training shoes –NO TRACK SPIKES. Your athletes will receive free NIKE PRO COMPETITION BASELAYER participant shirts if they pre-register online at www.ESPNRISE.com. DO NOT have them bring anything of value, as we are not responsible for lost or stolen items

COMBINE FORMAT
After a proper, supervised “dynamic warm-up”, your athletes will be tested in the 40-Yard Dash, Pro Agility Shuttle (5-10-5), Kneeling Power Ball Toss, and the Vertical Jump.

WHAT IS A SPARQ RATING?
SPARQ Training is the dynamic training method used at the Nike Football Training Camps. The SPARQ Rating is a number that identifies overall athletic ability and is used by top coaches and trainers around the nation as an initial indicator of an athlete’s potential on the field

BENEFITS
This is a great opportunity for you to take advantage of Nike’s commitment to football, which will give athletes an opportunity to get tested professionally. There is also an opportunity for great recruiting exposure and coverage. ESPNRISE.com and ESPN.com, home of the Nike Football Training Camps and producers of other top events such as Elite 11, Nike 7ON, and Gridiron Kings will be at the Nike Football Combines covering the event as well as taking photos and video. In addition the results will be distributed to major college football programs all over the country. Also, a good performance can mean a spot at the Nike Football Training Camps, which kickoff in April.

We look forward to hopefully seeing you and your athletes at a Nike Football Combine this spring. For a complete list of dates and locations, as well as other frequently asked questions, please visit www.espnrise.com and click on Nike Football Combines.

About

Carlo Alvarez, is regarded as one of the top strength and conditioning coaches in the country, specializing in performance enhancement training for athletes at the high school, college and pro-level. A noted authority on sports conditioning, Carlo is recognized for his integrated and systematic approach to training, based on a foundation of safe and proven methods that have direct and measurable benefits to performance and wins. He has a long and successful track record based on a proven system that generates results.